In Christ

In chapter 6 of the Book of Romans, we read the Apostle Paul’ words to the Christians in Rome who were on the sin-confess-sin-confess merry-go-round. They apparently saw their behavior as an efficient ‘use’ of God’s grace extended to them; Paul viewed it as an abuse of that grace. It is a ride most of us know very well.

Within all of us there is a tension between rebellion and obedience (sin and holiness). Even in Christ, we are free to continue to sin. Yet most of our sins are impulse sins. In much the same way many of our purchases at the grocery store are impulse purchases, especially if we shop when we are hungry. We don’t plan to sin, yet the opportunity (temptation) arises and we take advantage of it.

After a massive Thanksgiving meal, we are no longer tempted to eat. When someone comes into the living room where we have plopped down in front of the television and says, “There is one last piece of pumpkin pie. We don’t want to let it go to waste. Will you finish it off?”

The thought of another bite of food, even the temptation of a slice of pie, which moments ago you regarded as wonderfully delicious, nearly repulses you now. That is a picture of our reaction to sin if we were filled with the Spirit.

Abounding in Christ, sin loses its allure to us. In Christ, Paul writes, we are “dead to sin” (v. 3). Its influence over us wanes as we allow the Spirit’s influence over us to grow.

Why does God’s Kingdom on earth lack the power Christ envisioned? Because most folks are just like me, committed to a spiritual diet. We don’t want to stuff ourselves with God’s presence. We’d rather exercise our free will and just sample what God has to offer along the way.

Yet we are “in Christ.” We are empowered to resist the sin’s attraction because Christ has equipped us for self-sacrifice and denial. Instead we live our life with our spiritual gut mostly empty, keeping ourselves ready for a ravenous feast on sin when it presents itself.

As believers, we have been justified, set free from the penalty of sin, because of Christ’s atoning work on the cross. We are being sanctified, released from the power of sin and thereby being made more holy, because of Christ’s victory over death. We are a new creation. With that comes the ability to become Christlike, no longer slaves to sin (v.6-7), as we eagerly anticipate our glorification.

When we allow sin to remain master over us, we are willfully and foolishly serving a dead overlord. We are powerless for Christ.

God called us to be “slaves of righteousness” (v.15-18) and to offer ourselves as “instruments of righteousness” to His honor and glory (v.13). As we are in Christ, He expects us to live His values out loud.